The Paris prosecutor’s office indicated to the complainant, the actor Francis Renaud, that the “facts revealed or denounced in the procedure do indeed constitute an offense but the time limit set by law for being able to judge them has passed.”
The investigation opened following a complaint for sexual harassment filed by actor Francis Renaud against filmmaker André Téchiné was dismissed due to statute of limitations, AFP learned Thursday from a source close to the matter.
“After examination (…), criminal proceedings will not be initiated on the grounds that the facts revealed or denounced in the procedure do indeed constitute an offense but the time limit set by law to be able to judge them has passed”, wrote the Paris prosecutor’s office to the complainant on June 4, according to this source. The director’s lawyer, Me Julia Minkowski, did not wish to comment on this decision.
On the eve of the César ceremony marked by new accusations of sexual violence, launched in particular by the actress Judith Godrèche, the actor Francis Renaud, 56, had accused André Téchiné on March 1 in a video published on X under the hashtag “MeTooGarçons”.
Two days later, the public prosecutor of Evreux, Rémi Coutin, indicated that the actor had “filed a complaint against Mr. Téchiné for sexual harassment, against casting director Gérard Moulevrier for sexual assault and against X for death threats”.
He had asked for the most “greater caution” faced with the details of the accusations concerning André Téchiné which, according to him, did not appear “not likely to be classified as sexual harassment”.
Concerning the complaint for sexual assault against Mr. Gérard Moulevrier, the actor mentioned, according to Mr. Coutin, “caresses in particular on his penis through clothes” There is “twenty or twenty-five years”. “At first glance”these facts were “all prescribed”added the prosecutor.
According to a source close to the case, André Téchiné was not heard during the investigation. “I was surprised by the relative speed with which the Paris prosecutor’s office”who recovered the procedure, “closed the investigation”told AFP on Thursday, Me Mathieu Croizet, lawyer for the actor who now calls himself “blacklisted by the cinema”. “I can understand that there could be a limitation period, but that we apply the obligation to investigate just in case”issued in a criminal circular at the beginning of 2021 in order to discover other potential victims.
“This decision, although obvious, is welcomed with great relief”, welcomed Me Céline Bekerman, lawyer for Gérard Moulevrier. Director of around thirty eclectic films, André Téchiné, aged 80, was qualified in 2017 as “giant of French cinema” by the Cannes Film Festival.
